Warm Hearts
by Talesoftwofairies
Summary: Three snippets of Gajevy, Gruvia, and Nalu after Tartarus arc


_Christine and Shelbi's note: __Hello Lovely Followers! This was a fic to celebrate 200 followers on tumblr! We never thought so many people would enjoy our stories. It's amazing to us that so many have read our writing! Here's another fic to celebrate! Thank you all so much for your feedback and we hope you enjoy this gift from us!_

_Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and it's characters belong to Hiro Mashima_

* * *

Gajeel lay motionlessly on the stone wall, his arms handing over the sides. It was cold. He had been in this position for at least a few hours, and not even his body heat was enough to warm the rock. It remained stone cold. Cold and hard. It wasn't even that comfortable, to be honest. But Gajeel couldn't seem to muster up the energy to move.

He didn't notice Levy approaching him or that she was even nearby until he was suddenly drenched with ice cold water.

Immediately, Gajeel flew up to his feet with a yelp, shaking off the cold liquid. "What the hell, Levy!?" He roared.

"Sorry, sorry," Levy smiled innocently, hands behind her back. "I couldn't tell if you were still alive or not."

"Of course, why the hell wouldn't I be!?" He growled, taking the end of his shirt wringing out the water.

"Well, you did look kinda lifeless. I almost thought you were an extension of that wall…" Levy said in a musing way.

Gajeel glared at the script mage, wondering what the hell her problem was. He looked back to return to his spot on the wall, but it was now damp with water. With a grumble, he walked to a dry area and plopped on the ground, leaning up against the stone with folded arms.

Levy joined him and took a seat atop the structure, next to his shoulders.

"You've been pretty quiet, lately," Levy observed. "How are you feeling?"

"Great." Gajeel bit out sarcastically, still feeling bitter about the cold awakening.

Levy was silent. Gajeel wondered if perhaps he was too harsh.

"Your dad seemed pretty cool," The voice behind him commented suddenly. "I wish we had more time to talk to him."

Gajeel winced at the mention of Metalicana. The wound still felt pretty fresh.

"Yeah…" Gajeel grunted, softly. "Me too."

Neither of them said anything for a while. Gajeel studied the blades of grass between his feet. He was grateful for the time he got with his father, he truly was. But it left him craving more, like only getting the tiniest of taste of euphoria.

"I can't imagine what it must be like…. To lose someone so close to you." Levy said, leaning forward to look at him.

Gajeel said nothing.

"And well...I want you to know that you don't have to grieve alone," She told him. "The entire guild is here for you, if you want to talk, or fight, or if you just want some company. And…" Her face pinked. "You can ask me for anything, too. I'll help with whatever you need."

Gajeel turned to look at her. Her face was completely sincere. It struck Gajeel that he really had come a long way from a year ago. He used to intimidate anyone who ever dared try to get close to him. Everyone in Phantom Lord was either afraid or kept a respectable distance from him. And that's exactly how he wanted it. He never wanted these kinds of bonds. But now, seeing the genuineness on Levy's face, Gajeel didn't know why he was ever against them.

"Thank you...Levy." Gajeel said, trying to keep his voice steady.

"You're welcome," Levy smiled gently. "I'm sorry for splashing water on you, earlier. I'll leave you alone now."

Levy stood up, and started to walk away. Gajeel looked up in alarm.

"Wait." He said, instinctually.

Levy turned around, concern etched on her face. "What?"

Gajeel scrambled for something to say, something to make her stay, but the words jumbled in his mind, blending together in a contorted mess.

"Do you want me to stay?" She asked.

Words still couldn't form properly in Gajeel's head, so he jerked his head in a single nod, not meeting her eyes.

He watched her feet step towards him again, settling back in their former position next to his. Gajeel sighed, feeling the warmth radiating off of her.

"You know," Levy said, thoughtfully. "I bet he's still watching over you. Metalicana, that is. I think he'd be proud of you, and how strong you've become…"

Gajeel let his gaze lift to the sky, feeling the warmness grow in his chest. "Yeah...I think so too."

* * *

Embers flickered up from the campfire, carried up by the wind, filling the air with warm light as they burned. Juvia took a deep breath of the cool air, tinged with the smell of burning wood, as she snuggled deeper into her coat.

She looked over at Gray and scanned his features. His eyes were still rimmed with red and his usual scowl was on his face. But Juvia was proud of him. He had finally defeated the Deloria which raged within himself. She knew that even though he was still raw from all that had happened with his father, he would be stronger- no, he _was_ stronger- because of it. He was stronger because he had finally released all of his anger. He was stronger because he could finally move on. He was stronger because ….

Gray cleared his throat, breaking their peaceful silence, much to Juvia's surprise. He looked up at the sky.

"Ur used to take me and Lyon camping up at the very top of the mountains, in the winter, during blizzards. It was so annoying." He scowled. "It was to teach us strength, or whatever. It was so horrible. But in the end it was worth it, because after the blizzard would pass, the sky would be the clearest I had ever seen. You could see all the galaxies in one grand portrait. It was those nights that I would tell them the stories of the constellations that my dad taught me. It was my way of keeping him there, in the present."

Gray shifted closer to Juvia and pointed at three stars in a band.

"See those three stars."

Juvia looked to where he was pointing, trying to ignore the press of his shoulder against hers.

"That's Orions belt, its the easiest way to find Orion in the stars." Gray's finger traced the stars of Orion's outline. "See his torso there? And those stars are his shield. There are a few different versions of the myth, but basically Orion was known as the greatest hunter the world had ever seen. But his ego angered everyone and eventually led to his death. He had to battle - Are you cold?"

Juvia had shivered when Gray had scooted closer to her which caught Gray's attention.

All she could do was smile. He was so much stronger because he had finally opened his heart.

"No Gray-sama, Juvia is warm. Very warm indeed."

* * *

Lucy looked up at the full moon while it illuminated the night, silhouetting the town's buildings.

She took shaky breath as she re-read Natsu's letter.

It had only been a week and everything still felt so wrong.

The guild had disbanded and very few members had stuck around, leaving Lucy without a home. After years and years of feeling so alone, she had gotten used to her makeshift family.

Now they were gone, spread out far and wide. Her heart constricted in her chest. Finally, a home, and now it was gone.

Lucy squeezed her eyes shut to prevent her tears from falling. She was so tired of crying, tired of being useless and lonely. Her whole body felt burdened with a weight.

Lucy slammed her fists on the table.

She wasn't the same little girl who didn't have a family to truly love. She had Fairy Tail. She knew that even though they were disbanded, that didn't mean they weren't a family. A family she believed in and knew she would see again.

She was going to be stronger.

She looked back down at Natsu's letter. She realized how helpless and lost he must be right now. Not only had he seen his father perish in front of his eyes, but his home, Fairy Tail, had disbanded. Lucy wondered how Natsu would take the news when he returned. She smiled a little, despite herself. Knowing Natsu, he would probably wouldn't accept Makarov's excuse and just appoint himself as the new master and rebuild the guild.

He just needed time, and while Lucy would rather be there with him, encouraging him, he probably needs to figure out his emotions. To do that, he needs to be alone.

She looked up at the moon and knew that wherever he was, he was going to keep his promise.

With that thought, revived from her feelings of hopelessness from earlier, she laid down and cuddled into her warm bed, knowing in her heart that Fairy Tail would always be a family.

* * *

Natsu trudged forward into the night, under the illumination of the moon through the twisted tree branches from above. Happy was snoring on his pack, tired after a day of flying.

The sharp wind pierced his skin as he tried to concentrate on walking through the thick woods but sleep deprivation mixed with the howling wind, bitter cold, and scratching branches kept causing him to lose focus.

Finally, he came up to a clearing and stumbled into it. The moon's glow was brighter here but that just made the woods around him, dense with darkness, all the more threatening.

He gently undid his pack and placed it on the ground, careful so as to not disturb Happy.

Another blast of wind hit him and he shivered, pulling his scarf tighter to him.

He looked back up to the moon, wondering for the billionth time that day if Lucy was safe and warm.

He curled in on himself, struggling not to shake. He never used to get this cold before, but here; lost and alone in the woods, he couldn't stop trembling. He didn't know which way to go, only that he had to get stronger. He couldn't be weak! He gritted his teeth as he felt tears threatening to spill over his cheeks.

For this was the first time he wasn't out to find his dad, he was out to avenge his death. A death he wasn't strong enough to prevent. All his training, all his promises to Igneel about how powerful he was going to be, how powerful he thought he was, was for nothing.

He inhaled a shaky breath, stinging his lungs. His insides felt ripped apart by daggers and he didn't know how to heal them.

All he knew that he had to get stronger, he had to become the strongest he could.

He clenched his jaw.

But he had to survive this cold night first.


End file.
